Soccer
Radebe: Bring back Benni
2009-07-01 17:47
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Johannesburg - "Bring back Benni McCarthy - he's had his punishment." This was the view, heatedly opposed by many South Africans, expressed by former Bafana Bafana captain, Lucas Radebe, at a Soccerex media briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
After endless controversies over the years, which reached a flashpoint when McCarthy declined to play for Bafana in key warm-up games against Norway and Portugal, in spite of his English club, Blackburn Rovers, declaring him fit for action, coach Joel Santana omitted South Africa's leading scorer and enfant terrible from the Confederations Cup squad.
But Radebe pointed out that, in spite of rising above expectations at the recently-completed Confederations Cup event, Bafana's suspect finishing remained of serious concern for next year's World Cup in South Africa" and Benni could help solve the problem.
"Give him another chance," said Radebe, who captained Bafana at both the 1998 World Cup in France and the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea, "and let's take it from there."
But, it would seem, McCarthy's wavering disciplinary record is not the only issue at stake here. At 31, the Blackburn striker's form last season seemed to have deteriorated and his fitness was below par.
Former Blackburn coach Paul Ince said he was overweight and while recognising his talent, refused to play him until he raised his fitness level.
McCarthy countered that it was a personality clash between him and the coach. But after Ince was replaced by Sam Allardyce and he was reinstated in the Blackburn line-up, the new coach went on to express views that were not much different from those of his predecessor.
And during the English off-season, Blackburn have sent McCarthy to a health farm in order to streamline his weight and get him into better shape.
Wednesday's Soccerex briefing at the Sandton Convention Centre was designed to outline details of the organisation's convention and exhibition in Johannesburg in November.
World Cup CEO Danny Jordaan was listed on the panel of speakers but he did not make an appearance - reportedly going to Cape Town to meet government officials in a report-back on the Confederations Cup.